Changes in the earth's climate continues to be a significant concern. Climate change is caused, in part, by global warming. Global warming is an increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere over time. This increase in temperature is caused by natural occurrences and human activity. One of man's primary activities that cause global warming is the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. The burning of fossil fuels produces greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Greenhouse gases trap heat and warm the earth's atmosphere and this is known as the greenhouse effect. Greenhouse gases have been increasing over time and it is estimated that the greenhouse effect will cause the temperature of the earth's surface to continue to increase. The combustion of fossil fuels also produces other polluting emissions such as hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and particulate matter. As such, the total emissions from equipment may include greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutant emissions.
Federal and state governments of the United States have been regulating emissions caused by various economic activities such as manufacturing transportation, electricity generation, agriculture etc. Moreover, many entities voluntarily adopt sustainability initiatives geared towards measuring and reducing greenhouse gas and other emissions. In order for an entity to meet governmental regulations and/or voluntarily reduce emissions, however, the entity must be able to determine the amount of greenhouse gases and other pollutants being emitted by the entity's activities. While there are known methods of estimating the amount of greenhouse gases and other pollutants emitted by different types of equipment, to get the total emissions for an entity that operates several pieces of equipment is traditionally a tedious, labor intensive and expensive exercise. Furthermore, estimations of the amount of greenhouse gases that are produced from engines typically involves broad assumptions and may not take into consideration all the factors that influence the actual amount of emissions. Therefore, there exists a need for an accurate, easily implemented and inexpensive system for determining the emissions of one or more pieces of equipment being operated by an entity.